EILEEN: final project results

1.
Final project results

2.
Goal of the project
Studying the perceptions of, interest in, and available tools for
interculturality in the workplace throughout Europe
Methods
• Desk research
• Quantitative research (surveys)
• Qualitative research (interviews)
Introduction

5.
Importance of interculturality
In all participating countries, a significant part of the
population is of foreign origin
*no data for Bulgaria and Portugal included in the desk research
Only Spain reports to have become a predominantly
emigrant country due to the economic crisis
1. Desk research
00%
05%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Italy Germany France UK Spain Belgium Greece
% of (active) population of foreign origin

7.
Solutions
• Diversity charters signed by companies who pledge to
strengthen diversity management (in France, Germany,
Belgium,…)
• Diversity labels awarded by the government to
companies who can prove their exemplary conduct in
non-discrimination (in France, Portugal,…)
• Use of (inter)cultural mediators or mentorship
programs to optimize communication and facilitate
access to public and private services
• Company initiatives: few examples, such as language
courses, specific tools or comprehensive programs for
the development of intercultural competences
1. Desk research

8.
SME’s versus large corporations
• More attention from large international companies (who
have transnational projects), often under the umbrella
of diversity and equality
• SME’s are less involved, except those working on EU
funded projects or those hiring technical profiles for
manual labor
Most companies don’t have tools to measure intercultural
competences
1. Desk research

9.
Education on interculturality
• In each of the participating countries, many courses or
educational tools are available, developed by
universities or commercial organizations
• Many commercial tools to measure intercultural
competences are also reported, but they are often
considered poorly constructed and lacking in rigorous
development and evaluation
1. Desk research

11.
Personal records
• 421 respondents
• Some imbalance between regions because of the
number of participating countries in each region:
East (Bulgaria, 9.7%)
North (UK, 8.6%)
West (Belgium, Germany, France, 39.9%)
South (Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, 39.7%)
• 60/40 balance between women and men
• Good balance in terms of age (27.8% under 35, 39.7%
35 to 50, 32.5% over 50)
2. Quantitative research

17.
The intercultural momentum: conclusions
• The general preconceptions about each of these regions
are confirmed in this study, even within the regions
themselves
• Within these preconceptions, each region feels they
follow the same stereotype as their counterpart (N/W
and S/E), but with a more positive perception
2. Quantitative research

19.
Intercultural statements
• Denial: 6.8%, twice as popular in over-fifties than in
other age groups. Significantly more frequent in the
North than in other regions, nearly absent in the West
• Defense: 2.3%, most frequent in the East. In regards to
age, 35-50 year olds are significantly less culturally
defensive
2. Quantitative research

20.
Intercultural statements
• Minimization: 22.1%, the most popular answer in the
North (36.4%) with a frequency more or less double
than in other regions. No differences between age
groups
• Acceptance: 44%, the most popular in all other regions.
No differences between age groups
2. Quantitative research

21.
Intercultural statements
• Adaptation: 24.8%, respondents from the South (28%)
and West (29%) are most willing to adapt.
This corresponds to the willingness to compromise of
the South observed in the intercultural momentum and
conflicts with the preconceptions observed about the
West
2. Quantitative research

23.
Intercultural competences
The same competences are viewed as important in dealing
with other cultures throughout the European regions
2. Quantitative research
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Rank
Competence
West South North East

24.
Intercultural competences in your company
2. Quantitative research
% in agreement
All East South West North
Is there any kind of (individual) intercultural competence evaluation of
employees/colleagues in your company?
18.4 19 19.6 19.6 11.9
Have you come across any standardized tool or validation technique to
evaluate cultural competences?
12.6 11.1 13.1 15.2 7.1
Are you interested in trainings in intercultural competences for your
company?
63.5 58.3 73.8 66.3 35.7
Are you interested in a standardized tool for assessing intercultural
competence development for your company?
65 50 78.5 67.4 38.1
Would you be interested to participate in an in depth interview about the
advantages of intercultural competences in companies?
50 44.4 60.7 53.2 21.4

27.
DMIS response
• No predominant response in UK and Greece
• Other countries were mostly ethno-relative
(acceptance, adaptation and minimization) with a large
preference for acceptance
Motives
Adaptation: most suitable when going abroad, but often
seen as a step too far. It is important to maintain your
individual personality for credibility
Not seen as suitable in France or Greece as adaptation is
counterproductive to integration and it is the
responsibility of others to adapt
3. Qualitative research

28.
Motives
Minimization: the reasons given were more indicative of
acceptance or even adaptation
Only a small minority of respondents in each region
showed an ethno-centric response (defense or denial)
Their most prominent reason for this type of response is
the priority of common goals inherent to the project over
personal or cultural differences
3. Qualitative research

30.
Interest in external expertise for assessing
intercultural competence development
Reasonable interest in most participating countries (~50%)
Most participants preferred:
• A (short) training or workshop
• A combination of external and self-assessment tools for
competence development
3. Qualitative research

32.
4. General conclusions
• All regions have to cope with increasing amounts of
workers with a foreign origin
• Current measures do not always target the most
vulnerable group (unskilled workers)
• Stereotypes of cultural differences between European
regions are still present
• The general attitude towards interculturality
throughout Europe is acceptance
• Practical solutions to everyday problems exist, but a
standardised tool for the measurement and validation of
intercultural competences is lacking
• The interest in such a tool is high, preferably in the form
of intercultural training or workshops, or the
combination of external and self-assessment
tools for competence development